Abhanga 797

When people who have never tasted real devotion argue about it anyway, the wiser response is to hold onto your own steady ground rather than keep fighting them.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A pākhāṇḍa-stuffed-country-onion-eater-asks-kasturī-they-harass-Your-feet-only-let-peg-in-their-mouths abhang. Anti-pākhāṇḍa-debater register. Five claims:

1. Pākhāṇḍa-पाठी-पुरविला-dumāla — काय-बोलों Viṭhṭhalā. Pākhāṇḍa-filled-country-claim. Thepākhāṇḍashave stuffed-the-back (i.e., the country, the bhakti-tradition is filled-with-corruption-from-behind);there what shall I say, Viṭhṭhal?.Country-stuffed-with-pākhāṇḍa-what-can-I-say.

2. कांद्याचा-खाणार-कस्तुरी-चोजवी — भिकारी-अर्थ-नेणे. Onion-eater-asks-kasturī-claim. Thekāndyā(onion) eater asks-after thekasturī(musk); hisbhikārī(beggar) self doesn't know theartha(value). Onion-eater-asking-after-musk-doesn't-know-value. (The pākhāṇḍa, who eats kāndyā, asks-about kasturī — pretending-to-know-the-precious-while-being-himself-a-beggar.)

3. न-कळे-तें-छळूनी-पुसती — चरणीं-लागतां-न-सोडिती. They-harass-claim. What I don't know — they ask,chaḷūnī(harassing, troubling); clinging to (Your) feet, they don't let-go. Harass-with-questions-and-don't-let-go-of-feet.

4. Your-पांयांविण-नेणें — सर्व-ठायीं-एक-मज. Only-Your-feet-known-claim. Without Your feet, I know nothing else; You are theēkain allṭhāyafor me. Only-Your-feet-everywhere-one.

5. Tuka: खीळ-पडो-त्यांच्या-तोंडा — किती-वादकांशीं-बोलों. Peg-in-mouths-tired-of-debaters-claim. Tuka says: let akhīḷa(peg, plug) fall in their mouths; how much shall I argue with thevāda-kāmśīm(debaters / disputers)?. Tired-of-debaters-let-peg-in-mouths.

[T]

For someone today

This abhang names the anti-fraud-debater pattern:

1. Frauds have filled the country. The country stuffed with frauds.

2. The onion-eater asks about musk; a beggar who does not know its true value. Onion versus musk.

3. They harass with questions, and won't let go. Harassment.

4. Only Your feet do I know; You are everywhere the one and only. Refuge.

5. Let a peg fall in their mouths; I am tired of arguing with debaters. A weary cry.

For today: the country is stuffed with frauds — the tradition of devotion has been invaded by pretenders; the onion-eater asks about musk, a beggar pretending to know something precious he has never known; they harass me with questions about what I don't know, clinging to my feet and not letting go; only Your feet do I truly know — You alone are the one present everywhere; let a peg fall in their mouths — how much longer must I argue with these debaters?

This abhang is one of Tukaram's most weary cries against religious pretenders, built through the images of the country stuffed with frauds and the onion-eater asking about musk. Compare 0784 and 0792, where the same polemic against fake gurus and fake wise men appears — the same complaint against false religious teachers, but here it is organized through the image of the country overrun by frauds, the onion-versus-musk comparison, and the wish for a peg to silence their mouths. "How much shall I argue with debaters" is the precise cry of someone exhausted by endless polemics.

मराठी: ही ओवी ढोंगी-वादपटूंविरुद्धचा नमुना सांगते:

1. ढोंग्यांनी देश भरून टाकला आहे. देश ढोंग्यांनी भरलेला.

2. कांदा खाणारा कस्तुरीबद्दल विचारतो; खरे मोल न कळणारा भिकारी. कांदा विरुद्ध कस्तुरी.

3. ते प्रश्न विचारून त्रास देतात, सोडत नाहीत. त्रास देणे.

4. फक्त तुझे चरणच मला माहीत; तूच सर्वत्र एकमेव आहेस. आश्रय.

5. त्यांच्या तोंडात खीळ पडो; वादपटूंशी वाद करून थकलो आहे. थकलेली हाक.

आजसाठी: देश ढोंग्यांनी भरून गेला आहे — भक्तिपरंपरेत ढोंगी लोकांनी अतिक्रमण केले आहे; कांदा खाणारा कस्तुरीबद्दल विचारतो, न कळलेल्या मोलाच्या गोष्टीचा आव आणणारा भिकारी; मला न कळणाऱ्या गोष्टींबद्दल ते त्रास देत विचारतात, चरणांना धरून सोडत नाहीत; फक्त तुझे चरणच मला माहीत — तूच सर्वत्र एकमेव आहेस; त्यांच्या तोंडात खीळ पडो — या वादपटूंशी मी किती वाद घालावा?

ही ओवी धार्मिक ढोंग्यांविरुद्धच्या तुकारामांच्या सर्वात थकलेल्या हाकांपैकी एक आहे, देश ढोंग्यांनी भरून जाणे आणि कांदा-कस्तुरी या प्रतिमांतून मांडलेली. ओवी क्र. ०७८४ आणि ०७९२ शी तुलना करता येईल — तिथेही खोट्या गुरूंविरुद्ध आणि खोट्या ज्ञान्यांविरुद्ध हाच वाद आहे — खोट्या धर्मगुरूंविरुद्धची तीच तक्रार, पण इथे ती देश ढोंग्यांनी भरून जाणे, कांदा-विरुद्ध-कस्तुरी तुलना, आणि त्यांच्या तोंडात खीळ पडावी अशी इच्छा यांतून मांडली आहे. "वादपटूंशी किती वाद घालावा" ही अखंड वादविवादाने थकलेल्या माणसाची नेमकी हाक आहे.

Where this applies

• Pākhāṇḍa country. Stuffed.
• Onion-vs-kasturī. Image.
• Khīḷa in mouths. Tired-cry.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2374 — Rather than scattering devotion among many lesser deities who demand offerings, Tukaram sa
• Abhanga 2377 — This detailed meditation on Vitthal standing on a brick at Pandharpur, out of love for his
• Abhanga 2387 — Accept whatever life brings with reverence, and place the burden on God rather than carryi
• Abhanga 2402 — For today: happily take rebirths — IF among the Paṇḍharī-Vārkarīs ; Hari-dāsas' company is